(Archived) Praxair Supplies Dry Ice for LSG Sky Chefs' Airline Catering

DANBURY, Conn., October 16, 2003 — Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) today announced that its subsidiary, Praxair Distribution, Inc., has signed an agreement with LSG Sky Chefs, the global airline catering subsidiary of LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG, for the supply of dry ice used to refrigerate food and beverages stored in the airline serving carts. More than 30 million pounds of dry ice blocks per year will be cut and delivered from Praxair's 17 facilities to more than 70 LSG Sky Chefs customer service centers at 45 airports across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"LSG Sky Chefs selected Praxair to be its national dry ice supplier of choice because it offered the best overall solution to optimize the efficiencies in our supply chain," said Craig Zimmerman, LSG Sky Chefs' vice president of procurement for the Americas. "Dry ice is a difficult product to source because no single supplier has integrated capabilities to provide nationwide coverage of dry ice to all LSG Sky Chef's locations. Praxair was the only company that came in with creative solutions providing full coverage with third-party alliances for which Praxair will be accountable.

"Praxair Distribution impressed us with its commitment to helping us improve productivity and lower the total cost of ownership," he continued. "Coupled with its global capabilities, Praxair clearly separated itself from competitors."

"By the end of this year, we will supply about 95 percent of LSG Sky Chefs' North American operations, replacing most of their previous suppliers," noted Praxair Distribution's Southern Division General Manager Mike Nevins. "Praxair also provides LSG Sky Chefs with dry ice in Brazil, Spain and Argentina."

Another advantage is the innovative and comprehensive technical expertise provided by the food laboratory team at the Praxair Food Technologies Center in Burr Ridge, Illinois.

"Using the latest testing equipment, our technicians were able to graph the changing temperature over a period time inside the airline carts and identify the optimum amount and form of dry ice required to keep the food and beverages chilled and fresh," explained Rich Clements, Praxair Distribution's director of dry ice for North America.

The Praxair Food Technologies Center provides the industry's only full-time food laboratory dedicated to cryogenic and low-temperature mechanical refrigeration, thermodynamic product profiling, product testing and food safety. Clients' products are tested using actual production equipment to maximize yield, boost production, save time and reduce costs.

With 200 customer service centers, LSG Sky Chefs is the world's premier provider of in-flight services in every sector from airline catering and organization to resource management. Major customers such as American Airlines, Lufthansa, U.S. Airways, SAS, Air Canada, Northwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines are among more than 260 of the world's 300 international airlines that work with Sky Chefs in 46 countries. During 2002, LSG Sky Chefs' 35,000 employees saw to the creation of about 346 million, individually-prepared, high-quality meals served to passengers on cross-country and international flights.

Praxair Distribution, Inc. and its subsidiaries and distributors deliver a large array of industrial and specialty gases, equipment, supplies, and services to thousands of customers in the United States and Canada. With hundreds of locations throughout North America, Praxair Distribution provides differentiated product and service offerings that help customers achieve their objectives faster, better and at lower total cost. For more information on Praxair's dry ice offerings, visit www.ultraice.com.

Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2002 sales of $5.1 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric and process gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies bring productivity and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others. More information on Praxair is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com.